Packer.



L. E. ROBINSON.

Inventor,

Attorneys,

LAWRENCE E. ROBINSON, OF COFFEYVILLE, KANSAS.

PACKER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ieee. 2a, raie.

Application iled October 15, 1915. Serial No. 56,083.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, LAWRENCE E. ROBIN- soN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Coifeyville, in the county of Montgomery and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Packer, of which the following is a specification.

The device forming the subject matter of this application is a packer adapted to shut olf gas in a well, after the gas-bearing sand has been struck, and to prevent the gas from iinding its way between the casing of the well and the piping.

In devices of the type above described, considerable dificulty has been experienced hitherto, by reason of the fact that the expander has been made in the form of a cone.

As .a consequence, when the expander enters the tubular packing element, the latter is expanded at its upper end only, and bears through a relatively small area against the Wall or casing of the well.

Another objectionable feature in connection with packers of the general type shown in this application is that the gas, in some cases, has been delivered against the base of the packing element. As a. consequence, the packing element is forced upwardly onto the expanding cone and the device, not infrequently, is locked or held in the well at a point above the proper point ofapplication, the expanding of the packing element being brought about by the upward pressure of gas, as distinguished from an upward movement of the packing element on the expanding cone, produced by a contact between the lower end of the pipe and the sand in the bottom ofthe well.

A further disadvantage in devices of this sort has arisen hitherto out of the fact that the lower section of piping in the well has beenv made to slide on' the outside of the sleeve which passes upwardly through the packing element and, as a consequence, gas has beenpermitted to escape around the interior of the packing element and flow away between the casing of the well and the upper portion of the piping.

To provide a structure which will obviate the undesirable consequences above mentioned, is, generally considered, the object of the present invention.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and to enhance the utility of devices of that type to which the present invention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the tails of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed, without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing z-Figure l shows in sectional side elevation, a packer constructed-in accordance with the present invention, the parts appearing in the positions which they will assume while the packer is being lowered into the well; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view showing Vthe parts in the positions which they will assume after the packer has arrived at the desired position adjacent the bottom of the well, and after the packing element has been expanded; Fig. 3 is a cross section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In the drawings, the numeral 1 indicates a well casing, into which the upper section 2 of the well tubing extends. Threaded or otherwise secured to the lower end of the tubing section 2 is a nipple 8 carrying a tubular expander 4 comprising parts 5, 6, and 8, each of the parts 5, 6, 7 and 8 being cylindrical in cross section, and each part being of a less diameter than the part thereabove.

The numeral 9-indicates a tubular holder provided at its upper end with a shoulder 10 adapted to coact with a shoulder -11 formed by the parts 7 and 8 of the expander 4, to the end that the holder 9 may be sustained by the expander as the structure is being lowered into the well. The holder 9 carries pins 25 engaged beneath the expander 4 and adapted to prevent the packing element 17 (to be described hereinafter) from being shoved up onto the part 4 and expanded, before the bottom section 14 of the pipe engages the sand at the well-bottom. When, however, the section 14 engages the sand atthe bottom of the well, the pins 25 shear off. Threaded yonto or otherwise secured to the lower end of the holder 9 is an abutment 12 into which is threaded the lower pipe section 14. The holder 9 constitutes, to all intents and purposes, a part of the pipe section 14, and in the pipe section 14 is interposed a casing V15 having gas inlet openings 16.

Surrounding the holder 9 and engaged with the abutment 12 is the resilient packing element 17, the lower end of which is constricted by a binder 18, preferably in the form of a piece of wire.

If desired, a bracket 19 may be attached to the upper end of the well casing l and a bracket 20 may be attached to the tubing 2 above the bracket 19, the brackets 19 and 20 being operatively united by tightening devices such as bolt and nut structures 21.

p In practical operation, the parts being in if the positions of Fig. 1, the upper and lower pipe s ections 2 and 14 respectively are lowered into the well. Ultimately, the lower pipe section 14 comes into abutment withy the sand at the bottom of the Well, the upper pipe section 2 moves downwardly with re spect to the lower pipe section 14 and the pins are sheared off, this operation beingbrought about because of the great weight of the tubing 2 and, in addition, bef

. ing accelerated, if desired, by tightening up the bolts 21 which unite the brackets 20.

When the upper pipe section or tubingv2 moves downwardly, the expander 4 is thrust into the packing element 17 and forces the same outwardly against the wall of the bore of the well. The expander 4 is not of conical form, but comprises aV plurality of cylindrical sections 5, 6, 7 and 8, each of less diameter than the section above it. As a consequence,I the packing element 17 is expanded throughout a relatively great portion of its length, the area of contact between the packing element and casing or bore of the well being increased accordingly. The adv vantage of such a structure over a simple conical expander is obvious. Further, it is to be observed that the gas which flows up.- wardlv throughthe holder 9 by way of the openings 16 is delivered within the contour of the expander 4 at a point well abovethe packing element 17. As a consequence, there is no gas pressure on the lower end of the packing element 17 and the latter is not forced upwardly at an inopportune time by gas pressure, this contingency tending, as

hereinbefore intimated, to bring about a pre# mature packing of the well, that is, before the string of tubing has been lowered suii ciently so that the lower end thereof can come into contact with the sand at the bottom of the well. Further, because the part 9 slides inside of the expander4 and' because the packing element 17 is constricted at its lower end with a binder 18, there is practically no possibility for the gas to work its way upwardly between the part 9 and the packing element 17 and flow away between the tubing 2 and the casing 1.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is In a device of the class described, a lower pipe section; an abutment thereon; an expansible packing element surrounding the 

